I recently advised a friend to ditch her Mac and get a PC. (Those situations do arise!*)

But she wants to keep her iTunes library. I know how to move the music and then the library file from one Mac to another, but what's the best method to move from Mac to Windows?

I'd like to keep all the playcounts, playlists, etc.--stuff contained only in Apple iTunes Library file (not, as I understand it, in the XML which contains only certain info).

If it can't be done, it can't, but I thought I'd ask (Burning a stack of CDs is not an option.)

* Her Mac needs a 3-prong outlet, and she can't afford to have an electrician install any in her new apartment. Rather than frying the Mac (since surge protectors need 3 prongs), she bought a cheap Dell. A REALLY cheap Dell--you get what you pay for, but I think it was a good purchase given her constraints. I helped her cherry-pick features to get the cost down below $400 on a Celoron laptop.

Yes, pretty much. She also very much wanted a laptop instead of a desktop, but that was secondary. There was no ideal solution for her, so she had to face a non-ideal reality.

If she had kept using her Mac (or rather MY old Mac on loan) without proper grounding and surge protection, it might have lasted a year. It might have lasted two. Or it might have lasted a week, and then fried along with all her data. (My grandmother's iMac was fried by bad power without proper protection.)

Her landlord wouldn't put in 3-prong outlets, and is not legally required to have them, it turns out. An electrician friend volunteered to help, but even the conduits in the walls are not grounded in this old building. So a 2-to-3 adapter wouldn't work: the grounding would be absent.

So after a few weeks of exploring options, she just needed a 2-prong computer (laptop) for next to nothing. $400 was the best we could do. (A netbook wouldn't have run her applications well enough.)

She's already fighting viruses--she's not computer-savvy--but is planning to get a Mac someday again. Meanwhile she mostly runs Web stuff, and her family is giving her Windows tech support so it's off my shoulders.

I looked at a refurb Mini, but that seems to need 3 prongs too (and was hundreds of dollars out of her budget: $500 plus a display).

(A REALLY old used Mac would have cost about the same--but with no warranty and in many ways less capability than a brand-new Dell.)

WoW talk about being tripped out - as I was reading your post the power went off spooky

That is correct there is no law that says he has to retrofit with 3 prong , since the the building is grounded at the meters "exterior" - However todays building codes do require all 3 prong and grounding through out . Sounds funny don't it ?

Original Intent ;Before they believed that grounding the exterior at the meters protects the building from lightning strikes . Power surges and bad appliances the fuse box will take care of that - decades latter appliances power draw grew and grew and became more sensitive with electronics logic boards and such

Anyway , before they care more about the building than someone getting electrocuted

I think (around here) that if a landlord does major work of certain kinds, the outlets have to be updated in the process. But until/unless that happens, an old building doesn't need to have grounded outlets--or even the safety fault outlets in the kitchen/bathroom.

Slightly O/T, but I wonder if a device with a power adapter (like an iPhone or laptop) is somewhat better protected than a desktop computer? Could a surge fry the charger and spare the device in some cases?

CorrectOnly if the landlord does retro work that requires a "building permit" <- key word then he would have to adhere to the new 3 prong codes

Quote:

Could a surge fry the charger and spare the device in some cases?

Yes and No depending on the surgePower adopters are basically "low voltage transducers" say from 15 amps down to the device 5 amps and would fry first but how much gets through to the device is a question - thats the job for the surge protector

Keep in mind that the ground wire is basically there for protection from electrocution and possible fire , it gives the voltage an easy route back to the ground - grounding does nothing for surge protection at all , your fuse box is the first protection , your 3 prong surge protector is the 2nd and should be more sensitive than the fuse box

In short the 3rd prong on a surge protector only protects you from electrocution does absolutely nothing to protect your devices . Thats the job for the built in trip fuse to detect a surge

* Her Mac needs a 3-prong outlet, and she can't afford to have an electrician install any in her new apartment. Rather than frying the Mac (since surge protectors need 3 prongs), she bought a cheap Dell.

You have got to be kidding me. I have a whole floor of two prong outlets in my house. Every power cord for my laptops I take a pair of pliers and wiggle that third prong back and forth. Three wiggles and it snaps off.

Problem solved. Laptops don't "need" to be grounded. It is OSHA approved overkill. Is there going to be a short to your case? No way. Towers I might add a ground wire which is an easy connection to the screw that holds the wall plate on but I don't think I ever bothered with that.

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